Day: May 24, 2022

The Second Wife by Miranda Rijks is a psych thriller that most delivers on an engaging plot.

That being said, the title does not really make sense in the greater scheme of the story. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

Mia is easy to like and root for. She appears to be honest and hardworking, and kind of ends up with a bad rap.

And that is all before the real twists start.

And then there is Brooke, who I found to be shallow, dishonest, vapid, and pretty unlikeable.

So, yeah, sides are easily drawn.

However, when the big turning point occurs, Brooke becomes a little more understandable and even a bit sympathetic.  But I think this was also in comparison to the other Featherstones who showed up.

Talk about characters with no redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Anyway, the action pretty much is in three acts: the build-up, the action, and the aftermath. There is a contained cast of characters, so there are no sneaky connections or “where did that person come from” moments, which I appreciate.

As events get spooky and even dangerous, the action takes on a little bit of an Agatha Christie feel. I think that is mostly because things get a bit complicated, and the twists start to appear more quickly.

There are some definite psych thriller head games. However, there are some moments that verge on melodrama and seem almost too over the top.

But the author still has a few good secrets that she holds onto until the very end, so it makes the entire story worthwhile.

Now, about the title though. I don’t feel like it did the story justice. Once you meet “the second wife” you expect the rest of the story to be about here, but that is not the case. She plays a big part in it, but she isn’t the focus.

It’s an odd choice.

Regardless, it’s a good read. I recommend this latest psych thriller from Miranda Rijks. You can also check out The New Neighbour. The review contains links to more of her books.

Author Bio 

Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter and black Labrador.

Miranda is the author of psychological thrillers. This will be her fourteenth novel published with Inkubator Books.